A short story about context and mistakes.

The first thought that ran through my head: A and T have much better taste than this.

Shortly thereafter, another thought: I should have confirmed exactly where we were meeting.

And the first thing I did: call A.

What did I do wrong?

***

When A suggested a place for brunch on Saturday, I quickly “used the Google” to figure out where it was. Of the many results for “Albion”, the leading result was a restaurant that appeared to be relatively near where he lived, had many reviews, and boasted of awards they had received for best Sunday brunch. Based on those facts, I made a quick decision that the Albion would be a good place and agreed to it with A.

But when I arrived there near the mutually-agreed time and day, I was a little surprised. The Albion was a pub in a very residential area, not what I was expecting. It was also empty, and the staff seemed a bit surprised when I mentioned I was meeting someone for brunch.

“Oh, we don’t have a chef for brunch today.”

Hmm. Instantly, I thought: the wrong Albion. Mutually-agreed time and day, but independently-agreed place.

The Wrong Albion, London, England

A quick phone call to get the address of the right Albion, a quick consultation with my map, the ah-hah flashed across my mind, and 10 minutes and £7 later I was at the right Albion, a mistake corrected.

The Right Albion, London, England

One would say I was lucky that the right Albion was so close; but knowing that they would select a place relatively near their place, if they had suggested a place located far away I would have been surprised by the results of my initial search and followed up to confirm the location.

Instead, I took a couple data points*, make a quick decision, and filed it away. Updated the schedule in my mind. Too fast, as it appeared.

We make decisions with limited information and context all day, every single day. If you’re action oriented, mistakes happen. But failing to act is a far bigger problem than making a mistake.

And if the problem can be solved in less than 10 minutes for less than £10, then it isn’t really a problem.

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* Yes, I neglected one small data point which should have raised a question in my mind earlier. So it goes.